28th January — World Data Privacy Day

On this day, 212 notable people were born on 28th January — spanning from 598 to 2004. From world leaders to artists and scientists, discover who shares this birthday.

28/01/2004

Emoni Bates, American basketball player

Emoni James-Wayne Bates is an American professional basketball player who most recently played for the Texas Legends of the NBA G League. He played college basketball for the Memphis Tigers and the Eastern Michigan Eagles.

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Liam Öhgren, Swedish ice hockey player

Liam Öhgren is a Swedish professional ice hockey player who is a left winger for the Vancouver Canucks of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was drafted 19th overall by the Minnesota Wild in the 2022 NHL entry draft.

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28/01/2003

Whitney Peak, Ugandan-Canadian actress

Whitney Peak is a Ugandan and Canadian actress. She starred in the HBO Max revival of Gossip Girl (2021–2023). Her other work includes the Apple TV+ series Home Before Dark (2020), the Netflix series Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (2019–2020) and the Disney+ film Hocus Pocus 2 (2022). She is set to play Lenore Dove Baird in the upcoming film The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping (2026).

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Carson Hocevar, American professional stock car racing driver

Carson Scott Hocevar is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 77 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Spire Motorsports, part-time in the NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series, driving the No. 42 Chevrolet Camaro SS for Young's Motorsports, and part-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, driving the No. 77 Chevrolet Silverado RST for Spire Motorsports. He has previously competed in the ARCA Menards Series. He is a former member of the Drivers Edge Development driver development system.

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28/01/2002

Tabyana Ali, American actress and author

Tabyana Ali is an American actress and author. She was born and raised in San Antonio, Texas, but later moved to California with her mother to begin a career in the entertainment industry. She appeared in guest roles in various television shows, including New Girl (2015), Shimmer and Shine (2019) and The Big Show Show (2020), in addition to the Black horror film Horror Noire (2021). In 2022, she took over the role of Trina Robinson in the soap opera General Hospital. She became popular with viewers partly as a result of Trina's supercouple romance with Spencer Cassadine, with the two appearing on the cover of People and the characters being compared to the original General Hospital supercouple Luke and Laura. Ali has released her first book, My Flower Child, in 2020, and her second, My Super B, was published in 2023. In January 2024, San Antonio declared January 13 as "Tabyana Ali Day" in honor of her achievements.

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Yoo Seon-ho, South Korean actor

Yoo Seon-ho is a South Korean actor, singer, and model. He is best known as a contestant on the survival reality show Produce 101 season 2 and acting in the drama Under the Queen's Umbrella. He has been a cast member of the variety show 2 Days & 1 Night since 2022.

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28/01/2000

Abel Ruiz, Spanish footballer

Abel Ruiz Ortega is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a forward for La Liga club Girona and the Spain national team.

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Dušan Vlahović, Serbian footballer

Dušan Vlahović is a Serbian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Serie A club Juventus and the Serbia national team.

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28/01/1998

Payton Pritchard, American basketball player

Payton Michael Pritchard is an American professional basketball player for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Oregon Ducks, where he earned second-team all-conference honors in the Pac-12 as a sophomore. Pritchard was a finalist for the Naismith College Player of the Year in his senior year. Selected 26th overall in the 2020 NBA draft by the Celtics, Pritchard reached the NBA Finals with the team in both 2022 and 2024, securing a championship in 2024. In 2025, he was named NBA Sixth Man of the Year.

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Ariel Winter, American actress

Ariel Winter Workman is an American actress. She gained her career breakthrough and stardom in the 2010s for playing the intelligent and nerdy Alex Dunphy in the ABC sitcom Modern Family (2009–2020), for which she and her several costars won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series four consecutive times from 2010 to 2013.

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28/01/1995

Mimi-Isabella Cesar, British rhythmic gymnast

Mimi-Isabella Cesar is a British individual rhythmic gymnast who has represented England and Great Britain at international competitions. She competed at two Commonwealth Games.

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28/01/1994

Joel Bolomboy, Russian-American basketball player

Joel Bolomboy is a Ukrainian-born Russian professional basketball player for Crvena zvezda of the Serbian KLS, the ABA League and the EuroLeague. He played college basketball for the Weber State Wildcats, where he was named Big Sky Conference Player of the Year in 2016. He was born in Ukraine but received Russian citizenship in 2018.

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Lin Zhu, Chinese tennis player

Zhu Lin is a Chinese tennis player. On 18 September 2023, Zhu reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 31. She attained her best WTA doubles ranking of No. 80 on 2 October 2023. Zhu has won the 2023 Thailand Open in singles and the 2019 Jiangxi Open in doubles. She has also won one singles and one doubles title in WTA 125 tournaments, as well as 15 singles and six doubles titles on the ITF Circuit.

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Maluma, Colombian singer-songwriter, rapper, and actor

Juan Luis Londoño Arias, known professionally as Maluma, is a Colombian rapper, singer, songwriter and actor. Born and raised in Medellín, he developed an interest in music at a young age, recording songs since age sixteen. Arias released his debut album, Magia, a year later in 2012. But, his breakthrough album was 2015's Pretty Boy, Dirty Boy, which led to successful collaborations with many artists. He released F.A.M.E. in 2018, another commercial success. He followed it with 11:11 in 2019, and Papi Juancho, surprise-released in 2020. His single "Hawái" reached number three on the Billboard Global 200, and became the first number one single on the Billboard Global Excl. U.S. chart. Selling more than 18 million records, Maluma is one of the best-selling Latin music artists. Musically, Maluma's songs have been described as reggaeton, Latin trap, and pop.

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28/01/1993

Will Poulter, English actor

William Jack Poulter is an English actor. Known for his work in film and television, his accolades include a British Academy Film Award as well as nominations for two Primetime Emmy Awards.

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Alan Williams, American basketball player

Alan Travis Williams is an American professional basketball player for the Nagoya Diamond Dolphins of the Japanese B.League. He played college basketball for UC Santa Barbara before beginning his professional career with the Qingdao DoubleStar Eagles of the Chinese Basketball Association in 2015.

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28/01/1992

Sergio Araujo, Argentinian footballer

Sergio Ezequiel Araujo, nicknamed El Chino, is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for Paraguayan Primera División club Cerro Porteño.

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28/01/1991

Carl Klingberg, Swedish ice hockey player

Carl Klingberg is a Swedish professional ice hockey forward for Ilves of the Finnish Liiga.

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28/01/1989

Siem de Jong, Dutch footballer

Siem Stefan de Jong is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder or striker.

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28/01/1988

Paul Henry, English footballer

Paul Nicholas Henry is an English footballer who plays for Marine. He previously played in the Football League for Tranmere Rovers.

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Alexandra Krosney, American actress

Alexandra Krosney is an American actress and voice actress. She is best known for her role as Kristin Baxter on the ABC sitcom Last Man Standing during the show's first season.

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Sanada, Japanese wrestler

Seiya Sanada , better known by his mononymous ring name Sanada, is a Japanese professional wrestler. He is signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is a member of House of Torture.

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28/01/1986

Jessica Ennis-Hill, English heptathlete and hurdler

Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill is an English retired athlete who specialised in the heptathlon and 100 metres hurdles. As a competitor in heptathlon, she is the 2012 Olympic champion, a three-time world champion, and the 2010 European champion. She is also the 2010 World Indoor pentathlon champion. A member of the City of Sheffield & Dearne athletic club, she is a former British national record holder for the heptathlon. She is also a former British record holder in the 100 metres hurdles, the high jump and the indoor pentathlon.

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Nathan Outteridge, Australian sailor

Nathan James Outteridge is an Australian sailor, a resident of Lake Macquarie. He was inducted into the Australian Sailing Hall of Fame in 2025.

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Asad Shafiq, Pakistani cricketer

Asad Shafiq is a Pakistani coach and former cricketer who played for the Pakistan national cricket team between 2010 and 2020. He is a member of the Men's National Selection Committee of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).

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28/01/1985

Daniel Carcillo, Canadian ice hockey player

Daniel Carcillo is a Canadian former professional ice hockey left winger. He most recently played under contract to the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League (NHL). His on-ice reputation as an enforcer has led to him being nicknamed "Car Bomb". Carcillo won a Stanley Cup as a member of the 2013 and 2015 Blackhawks. After retiring from the NHL in 2015, Carcillo created a non-profit organization that assists former NHL-players who are suffering from post-concussion syndrome and mental health issues. Carcillo is the founder and CEO of Wesana Health, a life sciences company that leverages psilocybin-based medicine to treat traumatic brain injuries.

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J. Cole, American rapper

Jermaine Lamarr Cole is an American rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer. Born on a military base in Germany and raised in Fayetteville, North Carolina, Cole initially gained attention as a rapper following the release of his debut mixtape, The Come Up, in early 2007. Intent on further pursuing a musical career, he signed with Jay-Z's Roc Nation in 2009 and released two additional mixtapes: The Warm Up (2009) and Friday Night Lights (2010) to further critical acclaim as he garnered a wider following.

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Lauris Dārziņš, Latvian ice hockey player

Lauris Dārziņš is a Latvian former professional ice hockey player who is a winger.

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Tom Hopper, English actor

Thomas Edward Hopper is an English actor known for his roles as Percival in Merlin (2010–12), Billy Bones in Black Sails (2014–17), Dickon Tarly in Game of Thrones (2017), and Luther Hargreeves in The Umbrella Academy (2019–24).

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Arnold Mvuemba, French footballer

Arnold Mvuemba Makengo is a former Congolese-French professional footballer who played as a midfielder.

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Libby Trickett, Australian swimmer

Lisbeth Constance Trickett, is an Australian retired competitive swimmer. She was a gold medallist at the 2004, 2008, and the 2012 Summer Olympics. She was the world record holder in the short-course (25m) 100-metre freestyle.

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28/01/1984

Ben Clucas, English race car driver

Benjamin Sean Clucas is a British racing driver.

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Stephen Gostkowski, American football player

Stephen Carroll Gostkowski is an American former professional football placekicker who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 15 seasons. A member of the New England Patriots for most of his career, Gostkowski is the franchise's all-time leading scorer. He played college football for the Memphis Tigers and was selected in the fourth round of the 2006 NFL draft by the Patriots, where Gostkowski spent his first 14 seasons. In his final season, Gostkowski played for the Tennessee Titans.

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Andre Iguodala, American basketball player

Andre Tyler Iguodala is an American former professional basketball player who played for 19 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). A swingman, he was an NBA All-Star in 2012 and was named to the NBA All-Defensive Team twice. Iguodala won four NBA championships with the Golden State Warriors and was named the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player (FMVP) in 2015. He was also a member of the U.S. national team at the 2010 FIBA World Championship and 2012 Summer Olympics, winning the gold medal both times.

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Anne Panter, English field hockey player

Michelle Anne Panter, known as Anne Panter or Ann Panter, is an English field hockey international, who was a member of the England and Great Britain women's field hockey team since 2002. She competed for Great Britain at the 2008 Summer Olympics and was part of the bronze medal-winning team at the 2012 Summer Olympics.

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28/01/1982

Chad Aull, American politician

Chad R. Aull is an American politician who has served as a member of the Kentucky House of Representatives since January 2023. He represents Kentucky's 79th House district.

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Omar Cook, American-Montenegrin basketball player and coach

Omar-Sharif Cook is an American-Montenegrin professional basketball coach and former player who is an assistant coach for the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He represented Montenegro internationally. Prior to entering the draft he was considered a top 10 overall prospect by several NBA scouts.

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28/01/1981

Elijah Wood, American actor and producer

Elijah Jordan Wood is an American actor and producer. A prominent child actor of the 1990s and a prolific figure in major studio features of the early 2000s, he earned accolades including two Saturn Awards, an Actor Award and a Critics' Choice Award, in addition to a nomination for a Daytime Emmy Award.

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28/01/1980

Nick Carter, American singer-songwriter and actor

Nickolas Gene Carter is an American singer and a lead vocalist of the vocal group Backstreet Boys. As of 2025, he has released four solo albums: Now or Never (2002), I'm Taking Off (2011), All American (2015), and Love Life Tragedy (2025), all during breaks in the Backstreet Boys' schedule, as well as a collaboration album with Jordan Knight titled Nick & Knight. He has also made occasional television appearances and starred in the reality shows House of Carters and I (Heart) Nick Carter.

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Yasuhito Endō, Japanese footballer

Yasuhito Endō is a Japanese former footballer who played as a midfielder. He is currently the assistant manager of J1 League club, Gamba Osaka.

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Brian Fallon, American singer-songwriter

Brian Michael Fallon is an American musician, singer and songwriter. He is best known as the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, and main lyricist of the rock band the Gaslight Anthem, with whom he has recorded six studio albums. He was also a member of the duo the Horrible Crowes, alongside the Gaslight Anthem's guitar technician and touring guitarist Ian Perkins. Since 2016, Fallon has released four solo albums and one EP.

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Michael Hastings, American journalist and author (died 2013)

Michael Mahon Hastings was an American journalist, author, contributing editor to Rolling Stone, and reporter for BuzzFeed. He was raised in New York, Canada, and Vermont, and he attended New York University. Hastings rose to prominence with his coverage of the Iraq War for Newsweek in the 2000s. After his fiancée Andrea Parhamovich was killed in an ambush, Hastings wrote his first book, I Lost My Love in Baghdad: A Modern War Story (2008), a memoir about his relationship with Parhamovich and the insurgency that took her life.

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28/01/1979

Angelique Cabral, American actress

Angelique Cabral is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as Colleen Brandon-Ortega on CBS' sitcom Life in Pieces (2015–2019) and Staff Sergeant Jillian Perez on Fox's comedy television series Enlisted (2014). She has also appeared in films The Perfect Family (2011), Friends with Benefits (2011), Band Aid (2017), and Wish (2023).

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28/01/1978

Gianluigi Buffon, Italian footballer

Gianluigi Buffon is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Widely regarded as one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time, he is one of the few recorded players to have made over 1,100 professional career appearances and holds the record for the most appearances in Serie A.

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Jamie Carragher, English footballer and sportscaster

James Lee Duncan Carragher is an English football analyst and former player who played as a defender. A one-club man, he was Liverpool's vice-captain for ten years and has made the second-most appearances for the club, the most in the Premier League era. Carragher is currently advisor of National League North club Marine.

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Papa Bouba Diop, Senegalese footballer (died 2020)

Papa Bouba Diop was a Senegalese professional footballer. His preferred position was as a defensive midfielder, but he could also play as a centre-back, where he played at Lens. Diop was considered a physically strong and aggressive player. His playing style, position, and ability drew comparisons to former France holding midfielder Patrick Vieira.

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Big Freedia, American musician

Freddie Ross Jr., better known by her stage name Big Freedia, is an American rapper, singer and performer known for her work in the New Orleans genre of hip-hop called bounce music. Freedia has been credited with helping popularize the genre, which had been largely underground since developing in the early 1990s.

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Sheamus, Irish wrestler

Stephen Farrelly is an Irish professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Sheamus.

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28/01/1977

Sandis Buškevics, Latvian basketball player and coach

Sandis Buškevics is a Latvian professional basketball coach and former player. He is currently the head coach for BC Telšiai of the Nacionalinė krepšinio lyga (NKL). Buškevics was also a member of the Latvia national basketball team.

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Daunte Culpepper, American football player

Daunte Rachard Culpepper is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons, primarily with the Minnesota Vikings. He played college football for the UCF Knights, winning the Sammy Baugh Trophy in 1998, and was selected by the Vikings in the first round of the 1999 NFL draft.

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Joey Fatone, American singer, dancer, and television personality

Joseph Anthony Fatone Jr. is an American singer, dancer, actor, and television host. He is best known as a member of the boy band NSYNC, in which he sang baritone. The band has sold over 70 million records, becoming one of the best-selling boy bands of all time.

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Takuma Sato, Japanese race car driver

Takuma "Taku" Sato is a Japanese racing driver, who competes part-time in the IndyCar Series for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. He competed in Formula One from 2002 to 2008. In American open-wheel racing, Sato is a two-time winner of the Indianapolis 500 in 2017 and 2020, remaining the only Asian driver to win the event.

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28/01/1976

Sireli Bobo, Fijian rugby player

Isireli Bobo, is a Fijian rugby union footballer.

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Mark Madsen, American basketball player and coach

Mark Ellsworth Madsen is an American basketball coach and former NBA player who is the head coach of the California Golden Bears of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). Due to his hustle and physical style of play, he received the nickname "Mad Dog" while playing for the San Ramon Valley High School Wolves, and the moniker continued during his time with the Stanford Cardinal and beyond. He played professionally in the National Basketball Association (NBA) with the Los Angeles Lakers, winning two NBA championships. He also played for the Minnesota Timberwolves.

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Rick Ross, American rapper and producer

William Leonard Roberts II, known professionally as Rick Ross, is an American rapper and music executive. An influential figure in modern hip hop music, Rick Ross has become known for his "booming" vocal performance, "larger than life" persona, and vivid lyrical imagery. His lyrics form the hardships of street life and black market economic activity into a rags to riches narrative, often describing affluence, wealth, and luxury.

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Miltiadis Sapanis, Greek footballer

Miltiadis Sapanis is a Greek former professional footballer who played as a midfielder.

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28/01/1975

Pedro Pinto, Portuguese-American journalist

Pedro Mendonça Pinto is a Portuguese-American journalist and communications professional. Currently he is the founder and CEO of a sports communications agency called Empower Sports*. Previously, he worked as managing director of communications at UEFA in Switzerland. Pinto was also a sports anchor for CNN International in Atlanta and London, covering the world’s highest profile events, including 2002 FIFA World Cup, hosting the UEFA Euro 2004 in which his home country hosted, and UEFA Champions League finals.

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Junior Spivey, American baseball player and coach

Ernest Lee "Junior" Spivey Jr. is an American former second baseman in Major League Baseball. In his five-year major league career, Spivey batted .270 with 48 home runs and 201 runs batted in in 457 games. He made the National League All-Star team in 2002. He batted and threw right-handed.

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28/01/1974

Tony Delk, American basketball player and coach

Tony Lorenzo Delk is an American former professional basketball player and college assistant coach. He currently serves as a scout for the Denver Nuggets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). During his playing days, he was team leader of the Kentucky Wildcats team that won the 1996 NCAA Championship Game. After college, he played for eight NBA teams over 10 seasons.

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Jermaine Dye, American baseball player

Jermaine Terrell Dye is an American former professional baseball right fielder. Dye played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Atlanta Braves (1996), Kansas City Royals (1997–2001), Oakland Athletics (2001–2004), and the Chicago White Sox (2005–2009).

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Ramsey Nasr, Dutch author and poet

Ramsey Nasr is a Dutch author and actor of mixed Palestinian and Dutch descent.

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Magglio Ordóñez, Venezuelan baseball player and politician

Magglio José Ordóñez Delgado is a Venezuelan former professional baseball right fielder. He played for the Chicago White Sox (1997–2004) and Detroit Tigers (2005–2011). Ordóñez is 5 feet 11 inches (1.80 m) tall and weighs 215 lb (98 kg). Having posted a career .309 batting average over 15 seasons, Ordóñez retired from the major leagues as a Tiger on June 3, 2012, in a ceremony at Comerica Park prior to the afternoon game.

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28/01/1972

Elena Baranova, Russian basketball player

Elena Viktorovna Baranova is a Russian former professional basketball player. She is a former Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) player, where she became the first player from Europe in 1997 WNBA inaugural season, the first All-Star from Russia in 2001 and played for the New York Liberty until the 2005 season.

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Amy Coney Barrett, American jurist, academic, attorney, and Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States

Amy Vivian Coney Barrett is an American lawyer and jurist serving since 2020 as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. The fifth woman to serve on the court, she was nominated by President Donald Trump. She was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit from 2017 to 2020.

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Mark Regan, English rugby player

Mark Regan MBE is an English former rugby union player. Nicknamed 'Ronnie', he played as a hooker for Bristol, Bath, Leeds Tykes as well as England and the British and Irish Lions.

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Nicky Southall, English footballer and manager

Leslie Nicholas Southall is an English former professional footballer and manager.

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Léon van Bon, Dutch cyclist

Léon Hendrik Jan van Bon is a retired road racing cyclist from the Netherlands, who won the silver medal in the men's points race at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. He won his first major race at the professionals in 1998, winning the HEW Cyclassics. In 2001 he claimed the overall-victory in the Ronde van Nederland. Van Bon retired in 2013.

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Gillian Vigman, American actress and comedian

Gillian Vigman is an American actress, comedian, and screenwriter. She has played Jack Box's Wife in many Jack in the Box commercials, and was a recurring cast member of the sketch comedy series MADtv. Vigman also starred in the ABC comedy Sons & Daughters, and had recurring roles in the sitcoms Suburgatory and New Girl. Since 2020, she has voiced the character of Dr. T'Ana on the animated series Star Trek: Lower Decks.

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28/01/1971

Anthony Hamilton, American singer-songwriter and producer

Anthony Cornelius Hamilton is an American singer. Hailing from Charlotte, North Carolina, he signed with Uptown Records, an imprint of MCA Records to record his debut studio album XTC; scheduled for release in 1996, it was ultimately shelved due to its singles failing to chart. He then gained recognition for his guest performance on Nappy Roots' 2002 single "Po' Folks", which peaked at number 21 on the Billboard Hot 100 and led him to sign with Jermaine Dupri's So So Def Recordings, an imprint of Arista Records.

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28/01/1969

Giorgio Lamberti, Italian swimmer

Giorgio Lamberti is an Italian former swimmer. In 1991 he became the first swimmer of Italy to win a world title, and gold medal, at a FINA World Aquatics Championships. He formerly held world records in the short course and long course 200 metre freestyle as well as in the short course 400 metre freestyle.

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Kathryn Morris, American actress

Kathryn Susan Morris is an American actress, best known for her lead role as Detective Lilly Rush in the CBS series Cold Case.

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Mo Rocca, American comedian and television journalist

Maurice Alberto "Mo" Rocca is an American humorist, journalist, and actor. He is a correspondent for CBS Sunday Morning, the host and creator of My Grandmother's Ravioli on the Cooking Channel, and also the host of The Henry Ford's Innovation Nation on CBS. He was the moderator of the National Geographic Society's National Geographic Bee from 2016 until its final competition in 2019, as the 2020 and 2021 competitions were cancelled and the competition was ended in 2021. He is also the host of the podcast Mobituaries with Mo Rocca from CBS News. He is a regular panelist on the radio quiz show Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!

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Linda Sánchez, American lawyer and politician

Linda Teresa Sánchez is an American politician and former labor lawyer serving as the U.S. representative for California's 38th congressional district since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, she was first elected to Congress in 2002 in California's 39th congressional district. Sánchez serves on the Ways and Means Committee; she was the ranking member on the House Ethics Committee until 2017. In the 114th Congress, she chaired the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.

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28/01/1968

Sarah McLachlan, Canadian singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer

Sarah Ann McLachlan is a Canadian singer-songwriter, ranked in the top echelon of Canadian musicians. As of 2025, she has sold over 40 million albums worldwide. McLachlan's best-selling album is Surfacing (1997), for which she won two Grammy Awards and four Juno Awards. She has won three Grammy and twelve Juno Awards in total, and is a member of the Canadian Music Hall of Fame and the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame.

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DJ Muggs, American DJ and producer

Lawrence Muggerud, known professionally as DJ Muggs, is an American record producer. He has been a member of Cypress Hill, a member of the trip hop band Cross My Heart Hope to Die and the leader of hip-hop and art collective Soul Assassins.

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Rakim, American rapper

William Michael Griffin Jr., better known by his stage name Rakim, is an American rapper. He is one half of golden age hip-hop duo Eric B. & Rakim, with whom he released four albums: Paid in Full (1987), Follow the Leader (1988), Let the Rhythm Hit 'Em (1990), and Don't Sweat the Technique (1992). He also released five solo albums: The 18th Letter (1997), The Master (1999), The Seventh Seal (2009), G.O.D.'s Network: Reb7rth (2024) and The Re-Up (2025)

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28/01/1967

Billy Brownless, Australian footballer and sportscaster

Anthony William Brownless is a former Australian rules footballer and radio and television media personality who represented Geelong in the Australian Football League (AFL) during the 1980s and 1990s.

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28/01/1966

Seiji Mizushima, Japanese director and producer

Seiji Mizushima is a Japanese anime director who is known for such series as Shaman King, Fullmetal Alchemist, Mobile Suit Gundam 00, Un-Go, Concrete Revolutio, and Beatless. His first directorial film project, Fullmetal Alchemist the Movie: Conqueror of Shamballa, won the 60th Mainichi Film Award for Best Animation Film. In 2015, he won the Individual Award at the 20th Animation Kobe Awards.

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Michal Pivoňka, Czech ice hockey player

Michal Pivoňka is a Czech former professional ice hockey player. He played his entire National Hockey League (NHL) career with the Washington Capitals. Selected by the Capitals in the 1984 NHL entry draft, Pivoňka defected to the United States during the summer of 1986. Over his 13 seasons with the Capitals, Pivoňka tallied 181 goals and 418 assists for a total of 599 points. At his retirement, he held the title for most assists in franchise history. As of 2025, he ranks fourth behind John Carlson, Nicklas Backstrom, and Alexander Ovechkin.

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28/01/1964

David Lawrence, English cricketer (died 2025)

David Valentine Lawrence was an English cricketer, who mainly played for Gloucestershire and briefly featured for England, becoming the first British-born black player to represent the country. He picked up 625 wickets in 280 matches for Gloucestershire, where he appeared in a bowling attack alongside Courtney Walsh and Kevin Curran. Lawrence later suffered a severe knee injury, on international duty, which curtailed his playing days. In 2022, he became the first black president of Gloucestershire County Cricket Club. He was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2025 Birthday Honours for services to cricket. He was popularly nicknamed "Syd" after the British bandleader of that name.

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28/01/1963

Dan Spitz, American musician and songwriter

Daniel Alan Spitz is an American musician and watchmaker best known for his work as the lead guitarist of the thrash metal band Anthrax from 1983 to 1995 and from 2005 to 2007. Spitz also founded the Christian music group Red Lamb, which was known for lyrics on autism awareness. Spitz has earned Swiss and American degrees in luxury mechanical watchmaking and micro-mechanical engineering, certified as watchmaker instructor for the North American operations of Swiss watch company Chopard.

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28/01/1962

Michael Cage, American basketball player and broadcaster

Michael Jerome Cage Sr. is an American former professional basketball player and current broadcast analyst for the Oklahoma City Thunder.

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Keith Hamilton Cobb, American actor

Keith Hamilton Cobb is an American actor.

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Sam Phillips, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

Leslie Ann Phillips, better known by her stage name Sam Phillips, is an American singer and songwriter. Her albums include the critically acclaimed Martinis & Bikinis in 1994 and Fan Dance in 2001. She has also composed scores for the television shows Gilmore Girls, Bunheads, and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.

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28/01/1961

Mike Holoway, British musician and actor

Mike Holoway is a British musician and actor. He was the drummer and percussionist in Flintlock and at the same time became an actor, notably featuring in the TV series The Tomorrow People.

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Normand Rochefort, Canadian ice hockey player and coach

Normand Rochefort is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman.

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28/01/1960

Loren Legarda, Filipino journalist and politician

Lorna Regina "Loren" Bautista Legarda is a Filipino politician and former journalist who has served as a senator of the Philippines since 2022, following previous terms spanning from 1998 to 2004 and 2007 to 2019. During her tenure as senator, she served as the president pro tempore of the Senate of the Philippines from 2022 to 2024, and since May 11, 2026. Her continued tenure has been disputed after following the declaration of a quorum amid her former majority's absence in June 2026 which saw her removal and the election of Sherwin Gatchalian to her position.

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28/01/1959

Frank Darabont, American director and producer

Frank Árpád Darabont is an American screenwriter, director, and producer. He has been nominated for three Academy Awards and a Golden Globe Award. In his early career, he was primarily a screenwriter for such horror films as A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987), The Blob (1988), and The Fly II (1989). As a director, he is known for his film adaptations of Stephen King novellas and novels, such as The Shawshank Redemption (1994), The Green Mile (1999), and The Mist (2007).

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28/01/1957

Mark Napier, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster

Mark Robert Napier is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who played over a thousand professional games between the National Hockey League and World Hockey Association between 1975 and 1989. He was a two-time Stanley Cup winner in the NHL.

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Nick Price, Zimbabwean-South African golfer

Nicholas Raymond Leige Price is a Zimbabwean former professional golfer who has won three major championships in his career: the PGA Championship twice and The Open Championship in 1994. In the mid-1990s, Price reached number one in the Official World Golf Ranking. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2003.

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Frank Skinner, English comedian, actor, and author

Christopher Graham Collins, known professionally as Frank Skinner, is an English comedian, actor, presenter and writer. At the 2001 British Comedy Awards, he was named Best Comedy Entertainment Personality. His television work includes Fantasy Football League from 1994 to 2004, The Frank Skinner Show from 1995 to 2005, Baddiel and Skinner Unplanned from 2000 to 2005, and Room 101 from 2012 to 2018. From 2009 to 2024 he hosted The Frank Skinner Show on Absolute Radio, broadcast live on Saturday mornings and released as a podcast. In October 2024 Skinner launched the Frank Off The Radio podcast, with the same crew as the radio show.

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28/01/1956

Ruth Becher, Austrian politician

Ruth Becher is an Austrian politician and former member of the National Council. A member of the Social Democratic Party, she represented Vienna North from December 2002 to October 2024. She was a member of the Municipal Council and Landtag of Vienna from December 1987 to December 2002.

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Richard Danielpour, American composer and educator

Richard Danielpour is an American composer and academic, currently affiliated with the Curtis Institute of Music and the University of California, Los Angeles. Danielpour received a nomination for Best Contemporary Classical Composition at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards for his piece The Passion of Yeshua.

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Peter Schilling, German singer-songwriter

Peter Schilling is a German synthpop musician whose songs often feature science-fiction themes like aliens, astronauts and catastrophes. He is best-known for his 1983 hit single "Major Tom " which was an international success, reaching the top positions on billboards worldwide.

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28/01/1955

Vinod Khosla, Indian-American businessman, co-founded Sun Microsystems

Vinod Khosla is an American businessman and venture capitalist. He is a co-founder of Sun Microsystems and the founder of Khosla Ventures. Khosla made his wealth from early venture capital investments in areas such as networking, software, and alternative energy technologies. He is considered one of the most successful and influential venture capitalists.

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Nicolas Sarkozy, French lawyer and politician, 23rd President of France

Nicolas Paul Stéphane Sarközy de Nagy-Bocsa is a French former politician who served as the president of France from 2007 to 2012.

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28/01/1954

Peter Lampe, German theologian and historian

Peter Lampe is a German Protestant theologian and chaired Senior Professor of New Testament Studies/History of Early Christianity at the University of Heidelberg in Germany.

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Bruno Metsu, French footballer and manager (died 2013)

Bruno Jean Cornil Metsu was a French footballer and football manager. During his senior playing career from 1973 to 1987, he played for seven different clubs in France.

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Rick Warren, American pastor and author

Richard Duane Warren is an American evangelical Christian pastor and author. He is the founder of Saddleback Church, an evangelical Baptist megachurch in Lake Forest, California. Since 2022, he serves as executive director of the Finishing the Task mission coalition.

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28/01/1953

Colin Campbell, Canadian ice hockey player and coach

Colin John Campbell is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman, coach and current executive vice president and director of hockey operations of the National Hockey League (NHL). He played in the 1982 Stanley Cup Finals as a member of the losing Vancouver Canucks. Campbell was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2024 as part of the Builder category.

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28/01/1952

Richard Glatzer, American director, producer, and screenwriter (died 2015)

Richard Glatzer was an American writer and director.

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28/01/1951

Brian Bilbray, American politician

Brian Phillip Bilbray is an American politician who served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1995 to 2001 and again from 2006 to 2013. He is a member of the Republican Party.

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Leonid Kadeniuk, Ukrainian general, pilot, and astronaut (died 2018)

Leonid Kostyantynovych Kadenyuk was the first astronaut of independent Ukraine to fly into outer space.

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Billy Bass Nelson, American R&B/funk bass player (died 2026)

William "Billy Bass" Nelson Jr. was an American musician who was the original bassist for Funkadelic. He is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, inducted in 1997 with fifteen other members of Parliament-Funkadelic.

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28/01/1950

Barbi Benton, American actress, singer and model

Barbi Benton is an American former model, actress, television personality, and singer. She appeared in Playboy magazine, as a regular on the comedy series Hee Haw, and recorded several moderately successful albums in the 1970s. After the birth of her first child in 1986, Benton retired from show business.

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Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, Bahraini king

Hamad bin Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa is the King of Bahrain, having reigned since 2002. He succeeded his father, Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa, as Emir in 1999 and became the first King of Bahrain following the country’s transition to a kingdom in 2002. He is a member of the ruling House of Khalifa.

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David C. Hilmers, American colonel, physician, and astronaut

David Carl Hilmers is a former NASA astronaut who flew four Space Shuttle missions. He was born in Clinton, Iowa, but considers DeWitt, Iowa, to be his hometown. He has two grown sons. His recreational interests include playing the piano, gardening, electronics, spending time with his family, and all types of sports. His parents are deceased. With five academic degrees, he is the second most formally educated U.S. astronaut, behind Story Musgrave and Lee Morin with six.

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Naila Kabeer, Bangladeshi-English economist and academic

Naila Kabeer is an Indian-born British Bangladeshi social economist, research fellow, writer and professor at the London School of Economics. She was also president of the International Association for Feminist Economics (IAFFE) from 2018 to 2019. She is on the editorial committee of journals such as Feminist Economist, Development and Change, Gender and Development, Third World Quarterly and the Canadian Journal of Development Studies. She works primarily on poverty, gender and social policy issues. Her research interests include gender, poverty, social exclusion, labour markets and livelihoods, social protection, focused on South and South East Asia.

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28/01/1949

Mike Moore, New Zealand union leader and politician, 34th Prime Minister of New Zealand (died 2020)

Michael Kenneth Moore was a New Zealand politician, union organiser, and author. In the Fourth Labour Government he served in several portfolios including minister of foreign affairs, and was the 34th prime minister of New Zealand for 59 days before the 1990 general election elected a new parliament. Following Labour's defeat in that election, Moore served as Leader of the Opposition until the 1993 election, after which Helen Clark successfully challenged him for the Labour Party leadership.

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Gregg Popovich, American basketball player and coach

Gregg Charles Popovich is an American professional basketball executive and former coach who is the president for the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was the head coach of the Spurs for 29 seasons from 1996 to 2025, during which he won five NBA championships, and was the longest-tenured active coach in the NBA as well as all other major sports leagues in the United States. He has been a member of the Spurs organization since 1994, originally as president of basketball operations and general manager, before taking over as coach in 1996. Nicknamed "Coach Pop", Popovich has the most wins of any coach in NBA history, and is widely regarded as one of the greatest coaches of all time.

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Jim Wong-Chu, Canadian poet (died 2017)

Jim Wong-Chu was a Canadian activist, community organizer, poet, author, editor, and historian. Wong-Chu is one of Canada's most celebrated literary pioneers. He was a community organizer known for his work in establishing organizations that contributed to highlighting Asian arts and culture in Canada. He also co-edited several anthologies featuring Asian Canadian writers.

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28/01/1948

Ilkka Kanerva, Finnish politician (died 2022)

Ilkka Armas Mikael Kanerva was a Finnish politician and a member of the Parliament of Finland. He was born in Lokalahti, now a part of Uusikaupunki in Southwest Finland. He was the Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2007 to 2008. Kanerva was a member of the National Coalition Party.

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Bob Moses, American drummer

Robert Laurence Moses is an American jazz drummer.

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Charles Taylor, Liberian politician, 22nd President of Liberia

Charles McArthur Ghankay Taylor is a Liberian former politician. He served as the 22nd president of Liberia from 2 August 1997 until his resignation on 11 August 2003 as a result of the Second Liberian Civil War and growing international pressure. After leaving office, he was found guilty of war crimes committed in the Sierra Leone Civil War, and was sentenced to 50 years in prison.

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28/01/1947

Jeanne Shaheen, American educator and politician, 78th Governor of New Hampshire

Cynthia Jeanne Shaheen is an American politician and former educator serving since 2009 as the senior United States senator from New Hampshire. A member of the Democratic Party, she served from 1997 to 2003 as the 78th governor of New Hampshire. Shaheen is the first woman elected both governor and a U.S. senator, and was the first elected female governor of New Hampshire.

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28/01/1945

Marthe Keller, Swiss actress and director

Marthe Keller is a Swiss actress. She is perhaps best known for her role in the film Marathon Man (1976), for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award.

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28/01/1944

Susan Howard, American actress and writer

Jeri Lynn Mooney, better known as Susan Howard, is an American actress, writer, and political activist. She portrayed Donna Culver Krebbs on Dallas (1979–1987) and co-starred on Petrocelli (1974–1976). She is also a screenwriter and member of the Writers Guild of America.

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Rosalía Mera, Spanish businesswoman, co-founded Inditex and Zara (died 2013)

Rosalía Mera Goyenechea was a Spanish businesswoman and fashion designer. At the time of her death, she was the richest woman in Spain and the world's richest self-made woman according to Forbes. She was ranked #66 among the world's most powerful women by Forbes in 2013. In 1975, she co-founded the Zara retail chain with her then-husband Amancio Ortega Gaona. The company grew to become the world's largest fashion retailer.

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John Tavener, English composer (died 2013)

Sir John Kenneth Tavener was an English composer of choral religious works. Among his works are The Lamb (1982), The Protecting Veil (1988), and Song for Athene (1993).

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28/01/1943

Paul Henderson, Canadian ice hockey player and author

Paul Garnet Henderson is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. A left winger, Henderson played 13 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Detroit Red Wings, Toronto Maple Leafs and Atlanta Flames and five in the World Hockey Association (WHA) for the Toronto Toros and Birmingham Bulls. He played over 1,000 games between the two major leagues, scoring 376 goals and 758 points. Henderson played in two NHL All-Star Games and was a member of the 1962 Memorial Cup-winning Hamilton Red Wings team as a junior.

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Dick Taylor, English guitarist and songwriter

Richard Clifford Taylor is an English musician, best known as the guitarist and founder of the Pretty Things. Taylor was also a founding member of the Rolling Stones, playing guitar and bass guitar, but left the band to resume his studies at Sidcup Art College. While there he formed the Pretty Things in September 1963, which he played with until the band's retirement in 2018. As of 2024, he plays lead guitar for the band the Hillmans.

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28/01/1942

Sjoukje Dijkstra, Dutch figure skater (died 2024)

Sjoukje Rosalinde Dijkstra was a Dutch competitive figure skater. She was the 1964 Olympic champion in ladies' singles, the 1960 Olympic silver medalist, a three-time World champion (1962–1964), five-time European champion (1960–1964), and the six-time Dutch national champion (1959–1964). She was the first Dutch athlete to win a Winter Olympics gold medal.

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Erkki Pohjanheimo, Finnish director and producer

Erkki Pohjanheimo is a Finnish television producer and director.

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28/01/1941

Joel Crothers, American actor (died 1985)

Joel Anthony Crothers was an American actor. His credits primarily included stage and television work, including a number of soap opera roles, the best known being Miles Cavanaugh on The Edge of Night, whom he played for eight years. He was also known for his roles as Joe Haskell and Lieutenant Nathan Forbes on Dark Shadows, Ken Stevens No. 2 on The Secret Storm, and pianist/newspaper editor Julian Cannell on Somerset.

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28/01/1940

Carlos Slim, Mexican businessman and philanthropist, founded Grupo Carso

Carlos Slim Helú is a Mexican business oligarch, investor and philanthropist. From 2010 to 2013, Slim was ranked as the richest person in the world by Forbes business magazine. He derived his fortune from his extensive holdings in a considerable number of Mexican companies through his conglomerate, Grupo Carso. As of July 2025, the Bloomberg Billionaires Index ranked him as the 18th-richest person in the world, with a net worth of US$99.1 billion, making him the richest person in Latin America.

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28/01/1939

John M. Fabian, American colonel, pilot, and astronaut

John McCreary Fabian was an American NASA astronaut and Air Force officer who flew two Space Shuttle missions and worked on the development of the Shuttle's robotic arm. He later led the Air Force's space operations.

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28/01/1938

Tomas Lindahl, Swedish-English biologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate

Tomas Robert Lindahl is a Swedish-British scientist specialising in cancer research. In 2015, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry jointly with American chemist Paul L. Modrich and Turkish chemist Aziz Sancar for mechanistic studies of DNA repair.

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Leonid Zhabotinsky, Ukrainian weightlifter and coach (died 2016)

Leonid Ivanovich Zhabotinsky was a Soviet-Ukrainian weightlifter who set 19 world records in the superheavyweight class, and won gold medals at the 1964 and 1968 Olympic Games. He also set 20 Soviet Union records and 58 Ukrainian records.

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28/01/1937

Karel Čáslavský, Czech historian and television host (died 2013)

Karel Čáslavský was a Czech film historian and television host. Čáslavský worked as a historian for the National Film Archive of the Czech Republic from 1963 until his death in 2013.

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John Normington, English actor (died 2007)

John Normington was an English actor primarily known for his work on television. Normington was also a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, performing in more than 20 RSC productions. He performed widely in the West End and at the National Theatre.

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28/01/1936

Alan Alda, American actor, director, and writer

Alan Alda is an American actor and filmmaker. In a career spanning seven decades on both stage and screen, he is best known for portraying Captain Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce in the CBS wartime sitcom M*A*S*H (1972–1983), where he also wrote and directed numerous episodes of the series. Alda has received numerous accolades, including six Primetime Emmy Awards and six Golden Globe Awards, as well as nominations for an Academy Award, a Grammy Award, three Tony Awards, and two BAFTA Awards.

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Ismail Kadare, Albanian novelist, poet, essayist, and playwright (died 2024)

Ismail Kadare was an Albanian novelist, poet, essayist, screenwriter and playwright. He was a leading international literary figure and intellectual, focusing on poetry until the publication of his first novel, The General of the Dead Army, which made him famous internationally.

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28/01/1935

Helga Kleiner, German politician

Helga Kleiner is a German politician from Schleswig-Holstein. A member of the Christian Democratic Union, she is a prominent campaigner for senior citizens' interests and has held a number of leadership positions in the CDU's Senior Citizens' Union. Kleiner was a member of the Lübeck City Council from 1986 until 1992, and served two non-consecutive terms in the Landtag of Schleswig-Holstein between 1992 and 2005.

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David Lodge, English author and critic (died 2025)

David John Lodge was an English novelist and critic. He was a literature professor at the University of Birmingham until 1987, and some of his novels satirise academic life, notably the "Campus Trilogy" – Changing Places: A Tale of Two Campuses (1975), Small World: An Academic Romance (1984) and Nice Work (1988). The latter two were shortlisted for the Booker Prize. Another theme is Roman Catholicism, beginning from his first published novel The Picturegoers (1960).

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Nicholas Pryor, American actor (died 2024)

Nicholas David Pryor was an American character actor. He appeared in various television series, films, and stage productions.

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28/01/1934

Juan Manuel Bordeu, Argentinian race car driver (died 1990)

Juan Manuel Bordeu was a racing driver from Balcarce, Argentina. A protégé of Juan Manuel Fangio, Bordeu had a successful early career but a bad testing accident wrecked his chances in Formula One. His only World Championship Formula One entry was at the 1961 French Grand Prix in a Lotus run by the UDT Laystall team, but the car was eventually driven by Lucien Bianchi.

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28/01/1933

Jack Hill, American director and screenwriter

Jack Hill is an American filmmaker, known for his work in the exploitation genre. He was an early associate of Francis Ford Coppola and Roger Corman, and worked on many films distributed by American International Pictures (AIP) during the 1960s and 1970s.

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28/01/1930

Kurt Biedenkopf, German academic and politician, 54th President of the German Bundesrat (died 2021)

Kurt Hans Biedenkopf was a German jurist, academic teacher and politician of the Christian-Democratic Union (CDU) party. He was rector of the Ruhr University Bochum.

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Roy Clarke, English screenwriter, comedian and soldier

Sir Roy Clarke is an English comedy writer, best known for creating and writing the sitcoms Last of the Summer Wine (1973–2010), Keeping Up Appearances (1990–1995), Open All Hours (1976–1985) and its sequel series, Still Open All Hours (2013–2019).

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28/01/1929

Acker Bilk, English singer and clarinet player (died 2014)

Bernard Stanley "Acker" Bilk was an English clarinetist and vocalist known for his breathy, vibrato-rich, lower-register style, and distinctive appearance – of goatee, bowler hat and striped waistcoat.

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Edith M. Flanigen, American chemist (died 2026)

Edith Marie Flanigen was an American chemist, known for her work on synthesis of emeralds. She was also noted for her work on zeolites and molecular sieves at Union Carbide.

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Nikolai Parshin, Russian footballer and manager (died 2012)

Nikolai Ivanovich Parshin was a Soviet football player and manager. He was born in Moscow.

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Claes Oldenburg, Swedish-American sculptor and illustrator (died 2022)

Claes Oldenburg was a Swedish-born American sculptor best known for his public art installations, typically featuring large replicas of everyday objects. Another theme in his work is soft sculpture versions of everyday objects. Many of his works were made in collaboration with his wife, Coosje van Bruggen, who died in 2009; they had been married for 32 years. Oldenburg lived and worked in New York City.

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28/01/1927

Per Oscarsson, Swedish actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (died 2010)

Per Oscar Heinrich Oscarsson was a Swedish actor. He is best known for his role in the 1966 film Hunger, which earned him a Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor.

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Ronnie Scott, English saxophonist (died 1996)

Ronnie Scott was a British jazz tenor saxophonist and jazz club owner. He co-founded Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club in London's Soho district in 1959.

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Hiroshi Teshigahara, Japanese director, producer, and screenwriter (died 2001)

Hiroshi Teshigahara was a Japanese avant-garde filmmaker and artist from the Japanese New Wave era. He is best known for the 1964 film Woman in the Dunes. He is also known for directing other titles such as The Face of Another (1966), Natsu no Heitai, and Pitfall (1962), which was Teshigahara's directorial debut. He has been called "one of the most acclaimed Japanese directors of all time". Teshigahara is the first person of Asian descent to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director, accomplishing this in 1964 for his work on Woman in the Dunes. Apart from being a filmmaker, Teshigahara also practiced other arts, such as calligraphy, pottery, painting, opera and ikebana.

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Vera Williams, American author and illustrator (died 2015)

Vera Baker Williams was an American children's writer and illustrator. Her best known work, A Chair for My Mother, has won multiple awards and was featured on the children's television show Reading Rainbow.

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28/01/1926

Jimmy Bryan, American race car driver (died 1960)

James Ernest Bryan was an American racing driver. Well-known for his habit of racing with an unlit cigar, Bryan was a three-time National Champion, and won the Indianapolis 500 in 1958. In Europe he is well-known for winning the 1957 Race of Two Worlds.

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28/01/1925

Raja Ramanna, Indian physicist and politician (died 2004)

Raja Ramanna was an Indian nuclear physicist. He was the director of India's nuclear program in the late 1960s and early 1970s, which culminated in Smiling Buddha, India's first successful nuclear weapon test on 18 May 1974.

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28/01/1924

Marcel Broodthaers, Belgian painter and poet (died 1976)

Marcel Broodthaers was a Belgian poet, filmmaker, and visual artist.

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28/01/1922

Anna Gordy Gaye, American songwriter and producer, co-founded Anna Records (died 2014)

Anna Ruby Gaye was an American businesswoman, composer and songwriter. An elder sister of Motown founder Berry Gordy, she became a record executive in the mid-to-late 1950s distributing records released on Checker and Gone Records before forming the Anna label with Billy Davis and her sister Gwen Gordy Fuqua. Gordy later became known as a songwriter for several hits including the Originals' "Baby, I'm for Real", and "God Is Love" from Marvin Gaye's What's Going On album. The first wife of Gaye, their turbulent marriage later served as inspiration for Gaye's 14th studio album, Here, My Dear.

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Robert W. Holley, American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1993)

Robert William Holley was an American biochemist. He shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1968 for describing the structure of alanine transfer RNA, linking DNA and protein synthesis.

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28/01/1921

Vytautas Norkus, Lithuanian–American basketball player (died 2014)

Vytautas Petras Norkus was a Lithuanian-born American basketball player. He won a gold medal with the Lithuania national basketball team during EuroBasket 1939.

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28/01/1920

Lewis Wilson, American actor (died 2000)

Lewis Gilbert Wilson was an American actor. He was most famous for being the first actor to play DC Comics character Batman on screen in the 1943 film serial Batman.

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28/01/1919

Gabby Gabreski, American colonel and pilot (died 2002)

Francis Stanley "Gabby" Gabreski was a Polish-American career pilot in the United States Air Force who retired as a colonel after 26 years of military service. He was the top American and United States Army Air Forces fighter ace over Europe during World War II and a jet fighter ace with the Air Force in the Korean War.

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28/01/1918

Harry Corbett, English puppeteer, actor, and screenwriter (died 1989)

Harry Corbett OBE was an English magician, puppeteer and television presenter. He was best known as the creator of the glove puppet character Sooty in 1952.

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Trevor Skeet, New Zealand-English lawyer and politician (died 2004)

Sir Trevor Herbert Harry Skeet was a New Zealand-born lawyer and a British Conservative Party politician.

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28/01/1912

Jackson Pollock, American painter (died 1956)

Paul Jackson Pollock was an American painter. A major figure in the abstract expressionist movement, he was widely noticed for his "drip technique" of pouring or splashing liquid household paint onto a horizontal surface, enabling him to view and paint his canvases from all angles. It was called all-over painting and action painting, because Pollock covered the entire canvas and used the force of his whole body to paint, often in a frenetic dancing style. This extreme form of abstraction divided critics: some praised the immediacy of the creation, while others derided the random effects.

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28/01/1911

Johan van Hulst, Dutch politician, academic and author, Yad Vashem recipient (died 2018)

Johan Willem van Hulst was a Dutch school director, university professor, author, politician, chess player and centenarian. In 1943, with the help of the Dutch resistance and students of the nearby University of Amsterdam, he was instrumental in saving over 600 Jewish children from the nursery of the Hollandsche Schouwburg who were destined for deportation to Nazi concentration camps. For his humanitarian actions he received the Yad Vashem distinction Righteous Among the Nations from the State of Israel in 1973.

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28/01/1910

John Banner, Austrian actor (died 1973)

John Banner was an Austrian-born American actor, best known for his role as Sergeant Schultz in the situation comedy Hogan's Heroes (1965–1971). Schultz, constantly encountering evidence that inmates of his stalag were actively conducting anti-German espionage and sabotage activities, frequently feigned ignorance with the catchphrase, "I see nothing! I hear nothing! I know nothing!".

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28/01/1909

John Thomson, Scottish footballer (died 1931)

John Thomson was a Scottish footballer who played as a goalkeeper for Celtic and the Scotland national football team. He died as a result of an accidental collision with Rangers player Sam English during an Old Firm match at Ibrox.

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28/01/1908

Paul Misraki, Turkish-French composer and historian (died 1998)

Paul Misraki was a French composer of popular music and film scores. Over the course of over 60 years, Misraki wrote the music to 130 films, scoring works by directors like Jean Renoir, Claude Chabrol, Jacques Becker, Jean-Pierre Melville, Jean-Luc Godard, Henri-Georges Clouzot, Orson Welles, Luis Buñuel and Roger Vadim.

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28/01/1906

Pat O'Callaghan, Irish athlete (died 1991)

Patrick O'Callaghan was an Irish hammer thrower and double Olympic gold medallist. He was the first athlete from Ireland to win an Olympic medal under the Irish flag rather than the British flag.

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Markos Vafiadis, Greek general and politician (died 1992)

Markos Vafeiadis was a leading figure of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) during the Greek Resistance and the Greek Civil War.

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28/01/1903

Aleksander Kamiński, Polish author and educator (died 1978)

Aleksander Kamiński, assumed name: Aleksander Kędzierski. Also known under aliases such as Dąbrowski, J. Dąbrowski, Fabrykant, Faktor, Juliusz Górecki, Hubert, Kamyk, Kaźmierczak, Bambaju was a Polish educator, co-founder of Cub Scouts methodology, and soldier of the Home Army. He was one of the ideological leaders of the Grey Ranks and chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the Polish Scouting Association.

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Kathleen Lonsdale, Irish crystallographer and 1st female FRS (died 1971)

Dame Kathleen Lonsdale was an Irish crystallographer, pacifist, and prison reform activist. She proved, in 1929, that the benzene ring is flat by using X-ray diffraction methods to elucidate the structure of hexamethylbenzene. She was the first to use Fourier spectral methods while solving the structure of hexachlorobenzene in 1931. During her career she attained several firsts for female scientists, including being one of the first two women elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 1945, first female professor at University College London, first woman president of the International Union of Crystallography, and first woman president of the British Association for the Advancement of Science.

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28/01/1900

Alice Neel, American painter (died 1984)

Alice Neel was an American visual artist. Recognized for her paintings of friends, family, lovers, poets, artists, and strangers, Neel is considered one of the greatest American portraitists of the 20th century. Her career spanned from the 1920s to 1980s.

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28/01/1897

Valentin Kataev, Russian author and playwright (died 1986)

Valentin Petrovich Kataev was a Soviet writer and editor who managed to create penetrating works discussing post-revolutionary social conditions without running afoul of the demands of official Soviet style. Kataev is credited with suggesting the idea for The Twelve Chairs to his brother Yevgeny Petrov and Ilya Ilf. In return, Kataev insisted that the novel be dedicated to him, in all editions and translations. Kataev's relentless imagination, sensitivity, and originality made him one of the most distinguished Soviet writers.

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28/01/1887

Arthur Rubinstein, Polish-American pianist and educator (died 1982)

Arthur Rubinstein OMRI was a Polish and American pianist. Widely regarded as one of the greatest pianists of his day, he received international acclaim for his interpretations of classical music compositions, particularly Chopin. Rubinstein played in public for eight decades with a vast repertoire consisting of Beethoven, Mozart, Schubert, Liszt, Tchaikovsky, Saint-Saëns, and Schumann, amongst others.

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28/01/1886

Marthe Bibesco, Romanian-French author and poet (died 1973)

Princess Martha Bibescu, also known outside of Romania as Marthe Bibesco, was a Romanian-French writer, socialite, known for her literary work and social involvement in political circles. She spent her childhood at the noble Lahovary's estates in Balotești and Biarritz, where she received an education in literature. Throughout her life, she travelled extensively across Europe, meeting notable political figures of her time. After World War I, she rebuilt her family's estates, but later lived in exile following the establishment of communist rule in Romania after World War II.

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Hidetsugu Yagi, Japanese engineer and academic (died 1976)

Hidetsugu Yagi was a Japanese electrical engineer from Osaka, Japan. When working at Tohoku Imperial University, he wrote several articles that introduced a new antenna designed by his assistant Shintaro Uda to the English-speaking world.

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28/01/1885

Vahan Terian, Armenian poet and activist (died 1920)

Vahan Terian, was a prominent Armenian poet, lyricist, public and political figure.

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28/01/1884

Auguste Piccard, Swiss physicist and explorer (died 1962)

Auguste Antoine Piccard was a Swiss physicist, inventor and explorer known for his record-breaking hydrogen balloon flights, with which he studied the Earth's upper atmosphere and became the first person to enter the upper atmosphere. Piccard testified in a 1931 science magazine, "The earth appeared to be a flat disk with an upturned edge." Piccard was also known for his invention of the first bathyscaphe, FNRS-2, with which he made a number of unmanned dives in 1948 to explore the ocean's depths.

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28/01/1880

Herbert Strudwick, English cricketer and coach (died 1970)

Herbert Strudwick was an English wicket-keeper. His record of 1,493 dismissals is the third-highest by any wicket-keeper in the history of first-class cricket.

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28/01/1878

Walter Kollo, German composer and conductor (died 1940)

Walter Kollo was a German composer of operettas, Possen mit Gesang, and Singspiele as well as popular songs. He was also a conductor and a music publisher.

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28/01/1875

Julián Carrillo, Mexican violinist, composer, and conductor (died 1965)

Julián Carrillo Trujillo was a Mexican composer, conductor, violinist and music theorist, famous for developing a theory of microtonal music which he dubbed "The Thirteenth Sound".

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28/01/1874

Alex Smith, Scottish golfer (died 1930)

Alexander Smith was a Scottish-American professional golfer who played in the late 19th and early 20th century.

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28/01/1873

Colette, French novelist and journalist (died 1954)

Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette, known mononymously as Colette or as Colette Willy, was a French author and woman of letters. She was also a mime, actress, and journalist. Colette is best known in the English-speaking world for her 1944 novella Gigi, which was the basis for the 1958 film and the 1973 stage production of the same name. Her short story collection The Tendrils of the Vine is also famous in France.

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Monty Noble, Australian cricketer (died 1940)

Montague Alfred Noble was an Australian cricketer who played for New South Wales and Australia. A right-hand batsman, right-handed bowler who could deliver both medium pace and off-break bowling, capable fieldsman and tactically sound captain, Noble is considered one of the great Australian all-rounders. He scored 13,975 first class runs between 1893 and 1920 and took 624 wickets. He made 37 centuries – including a best of 284 in 1902 – and set several partnership and individual high-score records for his State team.

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28/01/1865

Lala Lajpat Rai, Indian author and politician (died 1928)

Lala Lajpat Rai was an Indian revolutionary, politician, and author, popularly known as Punjab Kesari. He was one of the three members of the Lal Bal Pal trio. He died of severe trauma injuries sustained in October 1928 during a British-ordered baton charge by police in Lahore, when he led a peaceful protest march against the all-British Simon Commission.

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Kaarlo Juho Ståhlberg, Finnish lawyer, judge, and politician, 1st President of Finland (died 1952)

Kaarlo Juho Ståhlberg was a Finnish jurist and academic who was one of the most important pioneers of republicanism in the country. He was the first president of Finland (1919–1925) and a liberal nationalist.

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28/01/1864

Charles W. Nash, American businessman, founded Nash Motors (died 1948)

Charles Williams Nash was an American automobile entrepreneur who served as an executive in the automotive industry. He played a significant role in building up General Motors as its fifth president. In 1916, he bought the Thomas B. Jeffery Company, makers of the popular Rambler automobile, and renamed it Nash Motors. The resulting firm played an independent role in an automobile industry increasingly dominated by the Big Three: General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler.

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28/01/1863

Ernest William Christmas, Australian-American painter (died 1918)

Ernest William Christmas was an Australian painter, known primarily for his landscapes. Much of his later, most familiar work was done outside of Australia: in Europe, South America and, finally, Hawaii.

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28/01/1861

Julián Felipe, Filipino composer and educator (died 1944)

Julián Reyes Felipe was a Filipino composer of the music of the Philippine national anthem, formerly known as "Marcha Nacional Filipina", now known as "Lupang Hinirang".

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28/01/1858

Tannatt William Edgeworth David, Welsh-Australian geologist and explorer (died 1934)

Sir Tannatt William Edgeworth David was a Welsh Australian geologist, Antarctic explorer, and military veteran. He was knighted for his role in World War 1.

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28/01/1855

William Seward Burroughs I, American businessman, founded the Burroughs Corporation (died 1898)

William Seward Burroughs I was an American inventor born in Rochester, New York, most prominently known as the inventor of a mechanical calculator.

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28/01/1853

José Martí, Cuban journalist, poet, and theorist (died 1895)

José Julián Martí Pérez was a Cuban nationalist, poet, philosopher, essayist, journalist, translator, professor, and publisher, who is considered a Cuban national hero because of his role in the liberation of his country from Spain. He was also an important figure in Latin American literature. He was a political activist and is considered an important philosopher and political theorist. Through his writings and political activity, he became a symbol of Cuba's bid for independence from the Spanish Empire in the 19th century and is referred to as the "Apostle of Cuban Independence". From adolescence on, he dedicated his life to the promotion of liberty, political independence for Cuba, and intellectual independence for all Spanish Americans; his death was used as a cry for Cuban independence from Spain by both the Cuban revolutionaries and those Cubans previously reluctant to start a revolt.

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Vladimir Solovyov, Russian philosopher, poet, and critic (died 1900)

Vladimir Sergeyevich Solovyov was a Russian philosopher, theologian, poet, pamphleteer, and literary critic, who played a significant role in the development of Russian philosophy and poetry at the end of the 19th century and in the spiritual renaissance of the early 20th century.

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28/01/1833

Charles George Gordon, English general and politician (died 1885)

Major-General Charles George Gordon CB, also known as Chinese Gordon, Gordon Pasha, Gordon of Khartoum and General Gordon, was a British Army officer and administrator. He saw action in the Crimean War as an officer in the British Army. He made his military reputation in China, where he was placed in command of the "Ever Victorious Army", a force of Chinese soldiers led by European officers that was instrumental in putting down the Taiping Rebellion, regularly defeating much larger forces. For these accomplishments, he was given the nickname "Chinese Gordon" and honours from both the Emperor of China and the British.

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28/01/1822

Alexander Mackenzie, Scottish-Canadian politician, 2nd Prime Minister of Canada (died 1892)

Alexander Mackenzie was a Scottish-Canadian stonemason and politician who served as the second prime minister of Canada from 1873 to 1878. The Liberal Party of Canada established the Indian Act of 1876 and Residential schools during his tenure.

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28/01/1818

George S. Boutwell, American lawyer and politician, 28th United States Secretary of the Treasury (died 1905)

George Sewall Boutwell was an American politician, lawyer, and statesman from Massachusetts. He served as Secretary of the Treasury under President Ulysses S. Grant, the 20th governor of Massachusetts, a U.S. senator and representative from Massachusetts, and the first Commissioner of Internal Revenue under President Abraham Lincoln. He was a leader in the impeachment of President Andrew Johnson and served as a House manager (prosecutor) in the impeachment trial.

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28/01/1797

Charles Gray Round, English lawyer and politician (died 1867)

Charles Gray Round was a barrister and the Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for North Essex 1837–47. He also served as Recorder for Colchester, and as a magistrate and Deputy Lieutenant for Essex, as well as being a substantial local landowner and notable.

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28/01/1784

George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen, Scottish politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (died 1860)

George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen, styled Lord Haddo from 1791 to 1801, was a British statesman, diplomat and landowner, successively a Tory, Conservative and Peelite politician and specialist in foreign affairs. He served as Prime Minister from 1852 until 1855 in a coalition between the Whigs and Peelites, with Radical and Irish support. The Aberdeen ministry was filled with powerful and talented politicians, whom Aberdeen was largely unable to control and direct. Despite his efforts to avoid this happening, his ministry took Britain into the Crimean War, and fell when the war's conduct became unpopular. Subsequently, Aberdeen retired from politics.

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28/01/1755

Samuel Thomas von Sömmerring, Polish-German physician, anthropologist, and paleontologist (died 1830)

Samuel Thomas von Sömmerring was a German medical doctor, anatomist, anthropologist, paleontologist and inventor. Sömmerring discovered the macula in the retina of the human eye. His investigations on the brain and the nervous system, on the sensory organs, on the embryo and its malformations, on the structure of the lungs, etc., made him one of the most important German anatomists.

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28/01/1726

Christian Felix Weiße, German poet and playwright (died 1802)

Christian Felix Weiße (1726–1804) was a German writer and pedagogue. Weiße was among the leading representatives of the Enlightenment in Germany and is regarded as the founder of German children's literature.

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28/01/1719

Johann Elias Schlegel, German poet and critic (died 1749)

Johann Elias Schlegel was a German critic and dramatic poet.

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28/01/1717

Mustafa III, Ottoman sultan (died 1774)

Mustafa III was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1757 to 1774. He was a son of Sultan Ahmed III (1703–30), and his consort Mihrişah Kadın. He was succeeded by his brother Abdul Hamid I (1774–89). After years of confinement following his father's deposition, he became sultan in 1757. He promoted justice, economic reform, and modernized infrastructure. Admiring Frederick the Great, he aligned diplomatically with Prussia. However, his push for war with Russia in 1768 led to disaster, exposing Ottoman military weakness despite reform efforts. The war ended with major territorial losses.

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28/01/1712

Tokugawa Ieshige, Japanese shōgun (died 1761)

Tokugawa Ieshige; 徳川 家重 was the ninth shōgun of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan.

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28/01/1706

John Baskerville, English printer and typographer (died 1775)

John Baskerville was an English businessman, in areas including japanning and papier-mâché, but he is best remembered as a printer and type designer. He was also responsible for inventing "wove paper", which was considerably smoother than "laid paper", allowing for sharper printing results.

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28/01/1701

Charles Marie de La Condamine, French mathematician and geographer (died 1774)

Charles Marie de La Condamine was a French explorer, geographer, and mathematician. He spent ten years in territory which is now Ecuador, measuring the length of a degree of latitude at the equator and preparing the first map of the Amazon region based on astro-geodetic observations. Furthermore he was a contributor to the Encyclopédie.

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28/01/1693

Gregor Werner, Austrian composer (died 1766)

Gregor Joseph Werner was an Austrian composer of the Baroque period, best known as the predecessor of Joseph Haydn as the Kapellmeister of the Hungarian Esterházy family. Few of Werner's works survive to the present day, and he is mostly remembered for his troubled relationship with Haydn.

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28/01/1622

Adrien Auzout, French astronomer and instrument maker (died 1691)

Adrien Auzout French pronunciation: [ozu.(t‿)] was a French astronomer.

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28/01/1611

Johannes Hevelius, Polish astronomer and politician (died 1687)

Johannes Hevelius was a councillor and chairman of the city council of the Old Town, Gdańsk. As an astronomer, he gained a reputation as "the founder of lunar topography", and described ten new constellations, seven of which are still used by astronomers.

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28/01/1608

Giovanni Alfonso Borelli, Italian physiologist and physicist (died 1679)

Giovanni Alfonso Borelli was a Renaissance Italian physiologist, physicist, and mathematician who is often described as the father of biomechanics. He contributed to the modern principle of scientific investigation by continuing Galileo's practice of testing hypotheses against observation. Trained in mathematics, Borelli also made extensive studies of Jupiter's moons, the mechanics of animal locomotion and, in microscopy, of the constituents of blood. He also used microscopy to investigate the stomatal movement of plants, and undertook studies in medicine and geology. During his career, he enjoyed the patronage of Queen Christina of Sweden. He was the first scientist to explain that animal and human bodily movements are caused by muscular contractions.

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28/01/1600

Clement IX, pope of the Catholic Church (died 1669)

Pope Clement IX, born Giulio Rospigliosi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 20 June 1667 to his death in December 1669.

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28/01/1582

John Barclay, French-Scottish poet and author (died 1621)

John Barclay was a Scottish writer, satirist and Neo-Latin poet.

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28/01/1540

Ludolph van Ceulen, German-Dutch mathematician and academic (died 1610)

Ludolph van Ceulen was a German-Dutch mathematician from Hildesheim known for the Ludolphine number, his calculation of the mathematical constant pi to 35 digits.

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28/01/1533

Paul Luther, German scientist (died 1593)

Paul Luther was a German physician, medical chemist, and alchemist. He was the third son of the German Protestant Reformer Martin Luther and was successively physician to John Frederick II, Duke of Saxony; Joachim II Hector, Elector of Brandenburg; Augustus, Elector of Saxony and his successor Christian I, Elector of Saxony. He taught alchemy to Anne of Denmark.

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28/01/1457

Henry VII, king of England (died 1509)

Henry VII, also known as Henry Tudor, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from his seizure of the crown on 22 August 1485 until his death in 1509. He was the first monarch of the House of Tudor.

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28/01/1368

Razadarit, king of Hanthawaddy (died 1421)

Razadarit, personal name Pasoom-Paing-Cek, courtesy name Benya Noy, was king of Hanthawaddy Pegu from 1384 to 1421. He successfully unified his Mon-speaking kingdom, and fended off major assaults by the Burmese-speaking Ava Kingdom (Inwa) in the Forty Years' War. The king also instituted an administrative system that left his successors with a far more integrated kingdom. He is one of the most famous kings in Burmese history.

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28/01/1312

Joan II, queen of Navarre (died 1349)

Joan II was Queen of Navarre from 1328 until her death in 1349.

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28/01/0598

Taizong, emperor of the Tang dynasty (died 649)

Emperor Taizong of Tang, previously Prince of Qin, personal name Li Shimin, was the second emperor of the Tang dynasty of China, ruling from 626 to 649. He is traditionally regarded as a co-founder of the dynasty for his role in encouraging his father Li Yuan to rebel against the Sui dynasty at Jinyang in 617. Taizong subsequently played a pivotal role in defeating several of the dynasty's most dangerous opponents and solidifying its rule over China proper.

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